Case Number 16983: Small Claims Court

SKID MARKS

The Charge

A hardcore comedy about softcore medics.

The Case

Another cheap-'n'-cheesy low-ball, gross-out comedy for your viewing
pleasure, Skid Marks tells the tale of two ambulance companies competing
to see which can transport the most patients: the Bayside Ambulatory Life
Services vs. Downtown Intensive Care. The acronyms will clue you in to about 80
percent of the jokes and the general tone of what you can expect.

Our heroes are on the Bayside crew. There's Rich, the regular guy (Tyler
Poelle, Scrubs), a fat guy, a sexy but insane girl named "Lai
Mei" (more jokes!), and a "little person" called "One
Foot" (but not because of his height -- more jokes!). Representing Downtown
are two dorky guys, Neil and Bob. Our EMTs -- not paramedics, a job viewed in
Holy Grail-like terms -- drug each other with tranquilizers and an
erection-causing elixir, toss poop-filled things at each other, spy on each
other, make up dirty stories about each other, and engage in all sorts of
frat-boyish grossities. Whenever possible, they minister to comely and topless
young women. Oh, and Rich likes a woman who doesn't like him back until the
end.

That's pretty much it. Skid Marks is an unremarkable, super-low
budget indie comedy that's frequently funny but more frequently stupid. If
there's a joke you thought was funny when you were in junior high -- including
the double entendre title -- odds are you'll find it lurking here. Well, not
really "lurking." More accurately, you'll find it waving its
metaphorical arms and hyperbolically screaming its inanities. Skid Marks
wears its low brow proudly. Nothing here rises even close to the level of
"serious" -- a minor crisis involving Rich's love interest comes up
every now and again but is easily dealt with -- and everyone seems to be having
a good time. It's all like an extended student improv, simple and affable. I
would have had a better time, if characters weren't tossing colostomy bags and
making milkshakes out of semen, but we all have our limits.

The disc from Peace Arch is a decent affair. The image is reasonably good
given the $1.98-style budget, and the producers don't try to obviously fake
things to make it all look higher level than it is. The back of the case alleges
that the audio is 5.1 surround, but what we actually get seems to be a standard
stereo track, which is fine. There are Spanish subtitles, but no English.

In keeping with the "What the hey?" style of the movie, we get a
bunch of "What the hey?"-style extras. A "making of" is just
a series of behind-the-scenes shots thrown together; there are no interviews or
insights here, which is fine, since Skid Marks is not an especially
insightful film. Dumb EMTers Neil and Bob star in a few jokey faux PSAs. We get
a few outtakes and deleted scenes, and there are instructions on how to download
a digital copy to your iPod or other portable device, meaning you never have to
leave home without Skid Marks.

Skid Marks is another cheesarific affair that harkens back to the
glory days of Gilbert Gottfried, Rhonda Shear, and USA Up All Night. If
"funny," "goofy," "dumb," and "gross"
are magic words when picking out a DVD, then you'll want to at least give this
one a rental.